


Vane knows things.

by LoonyFred



Category: Black Sails, Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3727885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyFred/pseuds/LoonyFred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Vane was planning his assault of Flint's ship (episode 2.09) he was also thinking of ways in which he could persuade Billy to join him. But he never expected to find out where Billy's real loyalty lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vane knows things.

The night's young. We're quick and brutal. We have to be so, or we don't stand a single chance against this crew of Flint's: the only way to win this fight is by catching them off guard. I`m not really all that happy about killing these sailors, skillfull and experienced, I still wish that some of them would join my crew, but with each moment, with each murdered fighter the chances get lower, the hatred grows, and I am constantly assessing the situation: whether we've killed enough of them to make all further resistance completely unreasonable. I really-really regret killing these men.

Then I see him, Billy Bones, slaughtering one of my men - I can't tell who exactly it is that Bones is stabbing. Is it Caleb? No, I think it was Jonas. Poor bastard. Not a good sailor, but a great fighter, truly. Was. God damn it, Bones, how'd you even done this with a single knife? 

Bones sees me. This instanse it starts to make sense to him of what's really hapenning. I can see the rage in his eyes when he hops down from the bridge deck. 

Oh, shit. Now I have to fight him, and I'm so not ready for this: I want him in my crew all too much. When preparing for the assault, I was thinking how to persuade him to join me. I know the odds are that he'd rather get himself murdered than bertay his crew, but still, I gotta try. He's a smart guy, a true pirate. Surely he must understand that Flint's stupid plan is... well... stupid, to say the least. So, I thought, if I managed to talk some sense into him, he could, may be, try and convince his men to join, too? I know he's influential, they'll listen, which means that less of them would have to die.

So I`m thinking, but for now - we fight. And it's hard, because I know just how good he is at it, and I also know that if I restrain myself and don't fully commit to the combat - he'll have me. Plain and simple. So I fight back, and he's strong, and skilled, and - oh, devil - he'd be such an asset to my crew. 

When he's down, the battle's over, too. We've killed many and forced others to surrender. I hope we won't have to kill them all. But that depends on how my conversation goes with this guy, Billy Bones.

So when we're finally alone, I`m completely straight with him, and I tell him everything about my plans for him and the men he could bring to my crew. And then he gives me this look, full of despise, outright hatred and... pity? As if it's not him, sitting with his arms tied. As if it's me who needs to be pitied. As if it's me who is weak. As if he knows some ultimate truth. 

And then he tells me everything. About England, their garrison on Harbour Island, and their plans to exterminate us. He says he's seen them with his own eyes, and... I believe this guy. I simply respect him all too much not to trust that right now he's telling me the truth. 

So, they're coming, I think. So what?

We give them a fight, that's what we're good at, ain't that the only way to deal with the English threat? I still don't get it, why he's clinging onto Flint's plan? How can he not see it, that the plan is doomed to fail. How does he not.  
Just.  
See it?

It's only when he says those words that I understand everything. No shit! You poor motherfucker, that's who you are. But I get it. Oh, I get it all too well.  
"You hate Flint", he says, and his intonation gives me a sudden sense of nostalgia.  
"I hate Flint", he continues and that's when it all becomes crystal clear to me, as I remember myself roughly a couple months ago sitting in the shabby brothel room and saying the same fucking words to that whore about Eleonore.  
"You hate her", those were my words then, "I hate her... But the truth is that she's strong, and we're weak".  
"But right now Flint's plan is the only plan", Billy Bones concludes, and all I can do is smirk, cause... Man, I've been there. I know what it feels like: to love someone, who you know will never listen to you, never follow your advice. I know how it is to hate some parts of this person, and, at the same time, worship them. And how it feels when you want to bring the whole world to them, but the world's just not what they would want. Hell knows what they want.

I know it all, because that's how Eleonore is - ruthless, unrelenting, too fucking stubborn. In some ways, she could be worse than Flint. But does it mean I need to sacrifice my own existence in order to give her what she wants? Hell, no. I've made my choice. Now you just have to make yours, Billy Bones, and from where I'm standing, it's either join me, or get killed, simple as that.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't so much a fanfic, but rather the explanation of how I see that scene in 2.09, when Billy said what he said. I was rewatching season 1 when in episode 5 I saw Vane say the same words about Eleonore using the same intonation and even the same facial expression. At that time we know he still loved Eleonore, hell, he still loves her. So I thought this scene with Billy in 2.09 was a perfect parallel, and it was deliberate, and moreover, I think Vane understood everything about Billy, and now he knows why Billy's just so loyal to Flint.


End file.
